Atlanta, GA
Tasted Sunday, March 4, 2012 by Eric with 2,303 views
Thanks to the outrageous generosity of Mark Taylor, I had the incredible honor of attending a 30 year retrospective of 18 different 1982 Bordeaux. It was a simply glorious tasting with most wines purchased on released and stored for decades by Mr. Taylor. Also in attendance was the flamboyant Yves Durand who led the tasting in a gloriously thick French accent, my dear friend Roy Hersh from For the Love of Port, Don Cornutt who I have been looking forward to meeting for years, the oh so dashing Todd French who runs the world dominating WineBerserkers bulletin board, the very eloquent Eric Asimov (read his writeup here) and 9 other wonderful lovers of wine.
All of the wines were served single blind, so inevitably that leads to a bit of guessing. In the past I would often find that the blind games might take away from the pleasure of the wines, but over time I have found it to be a very useful exercise to keep one very focused on the details that differentiated the 18 different elixirs we had the pleasure of enjoying.
I always find the first flight of reds to be a bit challenging, but these were pretty easy to get excited about quickly. I have had all of these except the Figeac at least once and in some cases (Pichon Lalande) perhaps a dozen times, so it was pretty easy to pick 4 of 6, just swapping the Beychevelle and Lynch Bages.
Wow, wow, wow, this was a flight of a lifetime. In hindsight I think the Latour was clearly a tiny bit off, but all of the wines were majestic. My rankings in this flight have much more to do with my own flavor preferences (I nearly always find Haut Brion and Margaux to be my favorite first growths). It was again pretty easy to pick 4 of 6, just swapping the Latour and Mouton.
Another amazing flight although obviously a small let-down from the prior flight. My blind picks were way off with only 1 out of 6 (and finished the night at 9 out of 18), but I was at least 100% on picking right and left bank wines. Great showings from the L'Evangile and Cos d'Estournel.
Thanks so much to Mark Taylor for a truly memorable tasting!
1982 Château Lynch-Bages
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Ripe with a bit of heat, newsprint, and tobacco. A bright cherry palate with a touch of cedar. My 5th favorite of 6. I guessed Beychevelle, but in fact this was Lynch Bages instead.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Château Beychevelle
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Mint, tobacco leaf, a sort of balsamic/syrup note that was pleasing, spicecake. Quite stern at first, but it opened up gorgeously. My 2nd favorite of the flight. I guessed it as the Lynch Bages when in fact it was a stellar Beychevelle.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Château Figeac
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Mmm, graphite with a sexy, stalky thing going on, a really soaring nose that is quite different from everything else in the flight. Very vibrant acidity. At first I thought this screamed of Pauillac with the copious green notes, and my initial guess was Lynch-Bages or Figeac. However by the time we had to commit this was a very easy pick as the Figeac. My 3rd favorite.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
One sniff and I wrote "sultry - PL" in my notes. This is my desert island wine, and it almost never disappoints. Maybe a touch of seawater on the nose but then such depth on the silky, luscious and full palate. An easy pick and my favorite of the flight.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Château Gruaud Larose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Our first glass was corked, so a backup was quickly brought in. It took a few minutes to open up from cellar temperature, and then it started to strut that roasted, black, brooding delicious thing that Gruaud so often does. Leathery, black and brooding, an easy pick. My fourth favorite of the flight, and the longer it sat in the glass the better it got.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
A touch of mint moves into that chicory, loamy, earthy personality that makes me think of Graves. There was a touch of hot breeze through a dry pine forest. To me the wine showed ample structure still and a very roasted personality. An easy pick as La Mission. Sadly I think the bottle was a touch heat affected. (I had purchased it from Acker back in 2005, whereas nearly every other bottle in the tasting came from Mark Taylor's cold cellar and was bought on release.) My least favorite of the 6 which was pretty much unanimous across all the tasters.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue